New England budget 11.21.08

Here are the top New England regional stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at gatehousenewsservice.com.

cbiondi@gatehousemedia.com

Here are the top New England regional stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at gatehousenewsservice.com. Please submit stories below no later than 6 p.m. local time, unless you have breaking news that is changing significantly. Questions?

Contact: Chris Biondi, (508) 626-4343, cbiondi@gatehousemedia.com

At ghnewsroom.com:

AWARDS: Submissions being sought for Best of GateHouse 2008

News

LAYAWAY IS BACK IN STYLE: AFRAID OF DEBT, SHOPPERS ARE LIMITING CREDIT CARD USE - Layaway, that throwback from an era when consumers actually paid for purchases before taking them home, has been dusted off and put back out on the shelves – just in time for the holidays.
Ledger, Steele, on wire now
With photos

HE'S NO DUMMY: NURSING STUDENTS PRACTICE ON PATIENT SIMULATOR - In what could be the start of a unique partnership in health care, a new "man on campus" has arrived on the Regis College campus. He is the Sim-Man patient simulator, a $50,000 human-like robot that has vital signs, can go into cardiac arrest, be treated for pneumonia, appear to be pregnant (as a woman, of course), groan and talk.
Weston, Wagner, on wire now
With video and photo

VIDEO: ALREADY SERVING HARD TIME, WEYMOUTH MAN FACES THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE FOR THE SAME CRIME - A 27-year-old Weymouth man faces a murder trial for the death of Matthew Nagle, who lived for six years after being stabbed at a Fourth of July party in Weymouth. Nicholas Cirignano is already serving nine to 10 years in prison for the attack, and would face a life sentence if convicted on the new charge.
Ledger, Encarnacao, on wire now
With photos and video

BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL CHRONICLES WITCHES, PAST AND PRESENT - Most biographies explore the life of a single individual, but recently, a television documentary delved into the collective history of witches.
Salem, Guerriero, on wire now
With photos

PHOTO: SEASON'S COLORS - Berries dot the branches of a bush along a walking trail at Carver Pond in Bridgewater.
Enterprise, on wire now

TAXES OR TOLLS? RAISING GAS TAX GAINS SOME SUPPORT ON BEACON HILL - MetroWest legislators may have more muscle behind efforts to ease Turnpike tolls after the House speaker backed a gas tax hike and lawmakers supported measures that would freeze or eliminate some tolls.
MetroWest, Hilliard, on wire now

Business

BIG TUNA BITE A BOON TO FISHERMEN - Giant tuna have been in short supply off the Cape in recent years. The weekend after the presidential election, giants galore appeared off Chatham -- huge schools of bluefin tuna that, according to the fish stories, were virtually throwing themselves into boats.
Cape Codder, Leggett, on wire now
With photo

Opinions

Editorial: A new study ranks Massachusetts first in the nation in business competitiveness.
MetroWest, 7 p.m.

Editorial: Local legislator says it's time to teach ethics to the folks on Beacon Hill.
MetroWest, 7 p.m.

Holmes column: A parade is forming around the idea of raising the gas tax instead of hiking Mass. Pike tolls, but Deval Patrick refuses to get in front.
MetroWest, 7 p.m.

EDITORIAL: A GAS TAX HIKE IS THE FAIREST WAY TO GO - It is time for lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick to enact a hike in the state’s gas tax to more fairly distribute the cost of a project whose cost overruns is not the fault of any part of the state’s population.
Ledger, on wire now

EDITORIAL: STEMMING THE TIDE OF FORECLOSURES - The national numbers are staggering: An estimated 1.5 million homeowners went through foreclosure last year, and another 1.2 million in the first six months of this year. The FDIC estimates that unless something is done, between 4 million and 5 million homes will enter foreclosure in the next two years.
MetroWest, on wire now

O'MAHONEY CARTOON: ON A BAILOUT FOR THE 'BIG THREE'
Ledger, on wire now

O'MAHONEY CARTOON: ON ATM FEES
Ledger, on wire now

Sports

WATCH FOR PRO SPORTS at prosports@gatehousemediane.com

Lifestyles

SARAH BRIGHTMAN IN TOWN MONDAY - Soprano Sarah Brightman has done it all. The former "Phantom of the Opera'' star recorded her first hit single in 1978, was a dancer for Britain’s hugely popular "Top of the Pops'' TV series, and has sung onstage with such stars as Plácido Domingo and Andrea Bocelli. This year, she sang for a worldwide audience at the opening of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Ledger, Fay, on wire now
With photo

VISIT WITH FORMER BEATLES DRUMMER PETE BEST AT THIS WEEKEND'S SUPER MEGAFEST - For decades he has been referred to by many as the unluckiest man in the history of rock 'n' roll. It was a distinction Pete Best had earned when he was dismissed as the drummer for The Beatles in August 1962. He was replaced by Ringo Starr, and the rest, as they say, is history.
MetroWest, Keene, on wire now
With photos

SHOPPERS' PARADISE: ARTS FESTIVAL JUST THE TICKET FOR CRAFTS LARGE AND SMALL - It's a case of so many creative ideas, so little time, according to Kathy Burg, an artist who was putting the finishing touches on her selection of hand-crafted belt buckles and belts at her Natick workshop last week.
MetroWest, LaMond, on wire now
With photo

'INTO THE WOODS' WITH TURTLE LANE - If you were an artistic director of a small theater devoted to musicals and were looking for a show to prove your company's chops, Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" would have to be high on your list.
MetroWest, Brooks Andrews, on wire now
With photo

'STAND UP, SING OUT!' FEATURES KLEZMER BAND AND YIDDISH CHORUS - The concert, Dec. 4 at Somerville Theatre, celebrates the 10th anniversary of A Besere Velt and the 20th of The Klezmatics. The two groups will perform together as well as separately.
Ledger, Feinberg, on wire now
With photos

LISA NEAL GUALTIERI, PH.D.: INTERNET DIAGNOSES: TRUST THEM OR TOSS THEM? - Eighty-four percent of adult Internet users in the U.S. go online for medical information, according to a 2007 Harris poll. Some of them, like Diana C., believe the Internet saved their life.
CNC, on wire now

DAVID S. GOLDSTEIN: THE EXERCISE CORNER: IT'S ALL TECHNIQUE! - Years ago I would sometimes find myself watching late night infomercials. Although there were plenty outlandish and ridiculous, but always thoroughly entertaining segments, there was one that stood out among the exercise genre. It was by a fellow by the name of Tony Little, a bodybuilder.
CNC, on wire now

'TWILIGHT' SURE TO BE LOVE AT FIRST BITE - Most girls would happily endure a love bite from hunky Robert Pattinson as vampire Edward Cullen in the screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s teen-vampire romance novel, "Twilight."
Ledger, Barbuto, on wire now
With photo

'SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE' A SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS, CLEVERLY MOUNTED BEAUTY - Play "Who Wants to Be an Oscar Winner" to learn more about this film.
Ledger, Alexander, on wire now
With photo

'A CHRISTMAS TALE' NOT YOUR USUAL SAPPY HOLIDAY FARE - This is not one of those sappy, feel-good holiday flicks - it's from France, after all - but "A Christmas Tale" manages to be funny and knowing in the midst of sadness and heartbreak.
Ledger, Alexander, on wire now
With photo